Tag Archives: mass shootings

Untie the Myths: Shootings and Mental Illness do not go Hand in Hand

19 Monday Mar 2018

Posted by in caregivers, mental illness, schizophrenia, stigma, Uncategorized

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In the weeks since the school shooting in Florida at Stoneman Douglas, we are once again talking about mental health and the treatment of people with mental illness. President Trump has called for more mental institutions, as one of his solutions to the problem of mass shootings. And last week, Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, said that communities need to have the option of involuntarily committing mentally ill people to reduce crime.

As someone with paranoid schizophrenia, who could be impacted by sweeping law and policy changes, what do I think about these two powerful men and their statements? I think they are both right in their proposals, but the information or assertions that lead to these proposals are inaccurate, based on faulty reasoning, reactionary, and wrong.

President Trump is correct that we need more long-term psychiatric beds in every state in the union. According to The Treatment Advocacy Center in 1955, there were 558,239 psychiatric beds in the United States, and as of 2016, there were 37,679. What does this mean? It means people who are experiencing a mental health crisis may not find a bed, or they may go on a waiting list that has them waiting as long as a month or more for the type of treatment they need.

Attorney General Jeff Session is correct that we need a better system to get people into hospitals. Under the current system, a person must be a danger to themselves or others to be involuntarily committed. As someone who has been psychotic, and in need of treatment that I did not trust (due to paranoia), and I lacked insight into my condition based on a symptom called anosognosia. An involuntary commitment would have helped me get the treatment I needed much faster. When someone is psychotic the length of time that they are psychotic matters regarding recovery, treatment, and the likelihood of future episodes. In other words, the sooner someone gets treatment, the better.

So, all is well in Washington DC regarding attitudes towards mental health? Right? Wrong. The fact that a mass shooting led to these proposals is troubling at the least and harmful at worst. The statistics do not back up either one of these responses to gun violence. According to the American Mental Health Counselors Association, only 3 to 5 percent of all violence (including firearm violence) is tied to severe mental illness. In the same article, on their website, AMHCA reports that people with severe mental illness are twelve times more likely to be the victims of violence (including firearm violence) than the general population.

It is easy to blame the mentally ill it is a simple and clean and for most people, perfectly sensible cause of violence. But it isn’t truthful, and the number of people those myths hurt is on the rise every year. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) one if five American adults will experience a mental illness, and ten million adults in America live with a serious mental illness. So, are these repeated stereotypes about mental illness and violence hurting someone? Yes, they are hurting a large portion of the adult population in America. They are keeping people from treatment (don’t want to admit I have a mental illness) and keeping people from jobs (people don’t want to hire someone who they believe (although inaccurately) is prone to violence).

We need solutions to mass shootings in America. We also need solutions to mental health in America, but the two things are a separate conversation and tying them together destroys life and productivity; it costs our society and individuals way too much. It’s time to get serious and untie the myths so we can make room for change.

 

 

Staying Sane In An Insane World

07 Monday Dec 2015

Posted by in hope, relationships, schizophrenia, Uncategorized

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Today in church these thoughts went through my mind, “What if a shooter comes in here and opens fire? Will I cover my husband’s body with my own? Will I grab that child sitting in front of me, and lay on top of her? I hope that I will do something, anything, brave and courageous.”

We aren’t big sports fans in our house, but we have a couple of teams that we follow, the team that represents our city, and the team that plays for the college my husband went to. One of our teams made it into a college bowl, and I immediately called my husband and said, “Do you want me to get 3 tickets or 4?” As I was waiting for my husband to reply, I thought about being in the stadium with a large group of people. Again, I thought about the possibility of a mass shooting.

Every day my husband goes to work on a military base. Once I was there with him, and there was a lock down because someone reported a shooter. We were in a different area than the report, so it wasn’t terrifying, but it was worrisome thinking of all the people we know whose offices were in the location of the reported shooter. (Everything turned out to be okay).

A few weeks ago, there was an active shooter in the building next to mine. I hid in my bathroom until the police evacuated me from my home. You can read about the incident here.

I know that I have a mental illness and that I tend to be paranoid, worried, and at times get morbid or disturbing ideas in my head (this is why I try not to watch anything too scary or gruesome on Netflix or at the movies) but there have been two events in my life that involved shooters. That can’t really be paranoia or my mental illness if it has been a reality in my life (not once, but twice).

It would be easy to let my thoughts overtake me on this issue. It would be easy to stop going to events where large numbers of people gather. I could get so fearful that I ask my husband to change jobs (he wouldn’t, but I could make him miserable with my fear and overprotectiveness).

I believe that I have to work through many parts of my mental illness (thoughts) in order to live the most productive life I can, and to enjoy life to the extent that I am capable. So today I came up with something to help me cope with all the random violence surrounding each and every one of us.

My husband and I decided when we got married to never go to bed angry at each other. In the almost eighteen years that we have been married, we have only failed at this once. There was only one time when we went to sleep before working out the anger we felt toward one another. I think of that as a pretty good record.

Today, right now, we are adopting something new into our relationship. We have promised each other never to separate from each other while we are mad, or unhappy with each other. In other words, before he goes to work, or before one of us runs an errand, or goes out to be with friends, we need to look each other in the eyes and tell each other that we love each other without anger, or without hard feelings.

There is only so much I can control on a daily basis. I can’t control the fact that terrible things happen to good people, and that it is possible, that one day we will be the good people something terrible happens to. I can’t control the fact that we could be the victims of a tragedy, but I can control the last words my husband hears before he walks out the door. I can control how many hugs I give him before he leaves our house. I can make sure I kiss his lips and tell him that he is the most important person in my world. Yes, I can control the knowledge he has about my love – that is something he can carry with him where ever he goes and in whatever circumstance he finds himself in. What I can control, I will, and that will help keep me sane in a world that seems to have lost so much of its sanity.

 

 

The Power Is Yours

03 Thursday Dec 2015

Posted by in hope, Uncategorized, writing

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There are times in our lives when we have to stop and look outside of ourselves. We have to put down our morning coffee and say, “I am tired of the status quo. I want to make a difference in this world. Things have to change.”

Today is one of those days. I am sure it is one of those days for many Americans. This year alone there have been 355 mass shootings in our schools, theaters, streets, and homes. I used to be afraid to go to Mexico because of the violence there, now I question getting on a bus or going to the zoo. Our streets have become a war zone and the casualties are mounting every day. If today is like most days this year, there will be another shooting today with more innocent lives brutally taken.

It is easy to put back in our earbuds and play our favorite music. It is easy to get out our cellphone and take a selfie on our way to work or to meet a friend. It is easy to close our eyes and think there is nothing I can do about this. It is easy to say, “I am helpless.”

The truth is you are not helpless. Changing this violence takes a few minutes of your time. There are things you can do to make a difference. Pick up the phone and call your local representative today. Pick up the phone and call your senators today. Tell them all that you want a sensible and immediate response to gun violence (the most obvious is background checks). Did you know even people that are on our “Don’t Fly” list in the United States can easily buy guns online and from gun shows? It is true and it is outrageous.

The other thing you can do is register to vote, and actually do it. Get out there and vote for someone who promises to address this issue. This is a time in your life that you can actually do something.

I have learned in this life that I am not powerless. I have money to spend (did you know every dollar you spend is a vote for something? If you buy it, that tells corporations, that you are okay with the place it is made, the way the workers are treated, the resources that were used to create it, etc. Money is a powerful vote). I also have a telephone and e-mail and write and call my elected officials regularly. (Does this make a difference? Yes, it does). I have a vote in every election and I get to the polls and I cast it.

There are other ways that I am powerful too. If I say that I care about climate change, then it is up to me to change my life – eat less meat, use public transportation, buy local, recycle, etc.

Our daily choices make so much more difference than we can ever imagine. Our daily choices impact corporations, politicians, the environment, and in this case, our action can be the voice of all those innocent lives. Those people who died deserve our voice and deserve our time.

How often in our lives do we get to say, “I did something that actually saved people’s lives?”

Here is a link to find the numbers for your senators and here is the link to find the number for your representatives. A few phone calls, a few e-mails – change is ours to help create.  No more status quo – today is one of those days.

 

Exchanging Schizophrenia For Autism

15 Thursday Oct 2015

Posted by in mental illness, schizophrenia, stigma, writing

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I recently read an article about autism and mass shootings. The article was in the New York Times. In my opinion this article is great, it points out that people who have autism are being scapegoated by the media and by people who want an explanation for the violence. If you read the article, you can easily substitute the word schizophrenia for autism. Because before this new scapegoat was discovered and targeted, it was almost always schizophrenia that was to blame for mass shootings.

As a society we have allowed one group of people who have long been scapegoated for gun violence and crime to be exchanged for another group. Each of these groups consists of some extremely vulnerable people in our society. Both groups of people (those with schizophrenia and those with autism) are far more likely to be victims of crime than to be perpetrators of a crime.

The best article I read for explaining mass shootings is in Slate. In the article, mass shooting are blamed not on the mentally ill (you can add autism to the article) but on people’s anger.

Of course, there is occasionally going to be someone with schizophrenia, or someone with autism that also has a problem with anger. The very number of people who have a mental illness or the diagnosis of autism, make it statistically impossible not to have some people in these two groups who possess problems that are not associated with their diagnosis (like anger).

It is easier to point to people with schizophrenia or people with autism and scapegoat them as the cause of gun violence than to accept anger as a cause. Why? Because people can point to people with a diagnosis as being “other” “them” “one of those” but the same is not true of anger.

Anger is a part of all of us. We all have anger. There is no pointing fingers and saying “Those people are dangerous.” Anger is dangerous in anyone. Road rage is the perfect example. Where I live many people are severely injured and even killed in incidents of road rage. It is absurd to think that accidentally cutting someone off on the freeway may very well end your life in an act of violence, but it happens.

There are many angry people walking among us. There are people who don’t handle the stress of a job loss, or rejections by others, the break-up of a relationship, or an error in traffic, etc. in a resilient manner. Most of us can cry, feel badly for a while, talk to friends, mourn, take action, something – our coping techniques kick in for our very survival. This isn’t true of everyone. Some people act out in violence and rage.

I hope other people will step up and speak out about the claims that mass shootings are tied to autism. Even if people with schizophrenia are not in the spot light right now, they could easily be again. I don’t accept scapegoating any group of people.

Let’s start a dialogue about how to identify the kind of anger that leads to violence. Let’s stop wasting time pointing fingers in the wrong direction. Let’s do something that doesn’t scapegoat people and actually saves lives –innocent lives.

Paranoid Schizophrenia Doesn’t Mean I Lack Character

08 Thursday Oct 2015

Posted by in hope, mental illness, schizophrenia, writing

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I may have paranoid schizophrenia but I also have strength of character that is often lacking in many people.

When a high school friend of mine posted an anti-Arab post on his Facebook wall, several of my other high school friends (who happen to be Arabs), wanted me to respond. I did respond. I told the poster his comments were racist and I unfriended him. Other mutual friends said nothing, some called him out for his behavior, but generally speaking his bigotry cost him very little even though all of the people I am referring to went to the same school together in an Arab country so all of us have ties to people who are of Arab descent – they are among our friends and our classmates.

Why didn’t people respond more harshly? Why didn’t more people unfriend him? Why did he just receive a minor confrontational comment from several friends and then things went back to normal?

I saw the same kind of behavior yesterday regarding gun ownership and mental illness. Of course there were people ranting that if we could keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill we wouldn’t have any more mass shootings. I pointed out to these posters that the statistics are not on the side of their beliefs. It is often people without a mental health diagnosis that are the shooters.  Friends of mine who know I have schizophrenia and have read the facts about gun violence stayed silent while their other friends targeted the mentally ill.

Why, when they know that I have a mental illness, and they know that the mentally ill are more likely to be victims of crimes rather than perpetrators of crimes, did they stay silent?

Strength of character.

Strength of character would be to risk standing up for your friends and what you know is the truth even if it means you might offend someone else or be ridiculed.

Mentally ill people are often discriminated against, wrongfully scapegoated, and many are abandoned on the streets and in prison. We are often made fun of, ridiculed, and our illnesses are often sensationalized. Many of us are shamed into silence and treated as less-than. All of this is true and most people with a mental illness can tell you an incident where they have been on the receiving end of one or more of these things. Even living life among this reality doesn’t mean people with a mental illness don’t have rock solid characters though – they can be honest, loyal, courageous, trustworthy, humorous, compassionate, empathetic, and so much more.

I am definitely mentally ill but that’s not a character flaw. A character flaw is leaving your friends to defend themselves because you don’t have the strength to defend the underdog even if the underdog is someone you claim to care about.

My character is healthy, is yours?

Gun Violence, Stigma and Mental Health

21 Friday Aug 2015

Posted by in mental illness

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I may be able to say it with more emotion, but I can not say it with as much clarity, for all of you who are advocates, please read this article. It is so well done. Some people understand so clearly and are writing about it.

The article is about the truth behind why we are currently looking at changing mental health laws right now…basically, because the mentally ill are blamed for the gun violence in this country.  The statistics don’t back this up. It is true a high number of mentally ill people are in prison, but most of them are there for non-violent crimes.

This article also points out that a mentally ill person is shot by police every 36 hours, and that after one of our recent tragedies with a mass shooter, the public said they didn’t want a mentally ill neighbor.

I encourage you to read it. It is so important.